CANON W. E. LUTYENS

The death occurred on Thursday in last week at his home Butler's Wood, Awbridge, Romsey, Hants, of the Rev. Canon William Enderby Lutyens, M.A. one of the Canons Emeriti of Rochester Cathedral, who for 17 years was vicar of St Luke's, Gillingham. He was 78. A younger brother of the late Sir Edwin Lutyens, the celebrated architect, and uncle of Viscountess Ridley, Canon Lutyens was known as a distinguished theologian with a literary flair that found expression in scholarly prose and verse. As a young man at Cambridge, where was a Classical Tripos Scholar, he also excelled as an athlete. He won the mile for Cambridge, 1892-93-94-95, broke the record in 1894 and held the 1,000 yards British record for 31 years. After holding curacies at Portsea and Westminster, Mr Lutyens came to Rochester Diocese in 1907 as vicar of Otford. Seven years later he was appointed vicar of St Luke's, Gillingham, and during the subsequent seventeen years he remained one of the outstanding clerics in Medway Towns. Besides carrying out the work of a faithful priest in his parish he was well-known outside it. Before Gillingham had a public library, and in order to help foster a public desire for one, he founded the Gillingham Literary Fellowship. Before the days of Queens' Nurses he saw to it that the district near his church was served by a full-time trained nurse. During his incumbency three priests and four lay-brothers from the parish finished their training in a house in Medway Road and went out as a Bush Brotherhood to Rockhampton in Australia. Canon Lutyens was responsible for extending the west end of St Luke's Church. In 1929 he was made an honorary canon of Rochester. On resigning from his ministry in Gillingham in 1931 he went to live at Cambridge and then successively at Hawarden, Chester, St Margaret's-on-Thames, Middlesex, and Awbridge. In 1934 he was made a Canon Emeritus of Rochester Cathedral. Canon Lutyens was the author of a number of books on sacred subjects, his last published works being "The Divine Guest" and "After His Likeness" in 1939. He is survived by a widow. The funeral took place at Brookwood Cemetery on Tuesday, following a service with Requiem at Romsey Abbey. There will be a sung a Requiem Mass at St Luke's, Gillingham, tomorrow (Saturday) at 9 a.m. [Chatham News - Friday 22 December 1950, p.5]